Emily I'm Sorry; Yellowjackets

seven.

(Emily, I'm Sorry)
ACT ONE— CHAPTER SEVEN

2021

Emily glanced around the bar, taking in her surroundings. She had been to the bar once before, it was long before she had Daisy, yet the place didn't seem to have changed one bit.

"What a place to choose, Nat," Emily spoke up, pulling the bar stool out that was next to the woman.

The bartender slid a shot of something and a beer out in front of Natalie. Emily ordered a shot of tequila, she could feel the other woman's eyes on her the entire time.

The intensity of the other woman's stare made her a bit nervous, she drummed her fingers against the counter.

"Tequila, huh? That's your poison of choice?" Natalie arched an eyebrow at the woman.

"White whine, usually." Emily drank down the shot, letting the alcohol burn down her throat, "Needed something a bit stronger today."

"I don't believe you." Natalie teased, "You're definitely a Tequila kind of woman."

Emily laughed quietly, Natalie always did know her best.

"Oh, you got me a drink." Misty approached the bar, taking the seat on the other side of Natalie.

Natalie didn't respond, reaching over and drinking the beer that Misty was referring to.

Emily bite back a slight laugh, "I'll have another, please."

The bartender poured another shot and Emily turned back to the other two.

"I can't believe I've never been here before," Misty started, "it's so um— so edgy." Misty chuckled.

"So, what have you got?" Natalie asked, and Misty reached over for her box.

The woman really hadn't changed at all, Emily threw back a second shot. This evening was turning into something the blonde wasn't quite prepared for.

"Well if I've learned anything from the citizen detective community," Misty opened the box, and her words caught the attention of both the other women.

"The what?" Natalie deadpanned, and Emily looked towards Misty with a similar expression.

"Oh—citizen detective. We're like um- we're like private investigators except for no one hired us or asked for our help."

"Jesus, you really haven't changed at all." Emily murmured.

"—we work together to solve cold cases. Disappearances, murders, it's super fun."

Natalie stared at Misty blankly, reaching over for her beer.

"So, I've been asking myself, what does the person who sent these postcards want?" Misty continued.

"To scare us—" Natalie stated just as Emily was speaking, "To make us lose our shit?"

"—to mess with our heads. Make us think about, what happened out there."

A beat of silence passed between the three of them, fear and memories dancing through the air.

"It's obviously a threat." Natalie finished, picking up the file Misty created, and sifting through the information.

"Who's Jessica Roberts?" Natalie asked, and Emily peered over her shoulder at the business card, "A reporter. She came poking around in my business while my—"

Emily almost brought up her daughter, but she was suddenly feeling weird about talking about something like that. So she just dropped it.

"You too? She approached me also." Misty spoke, and Natalie picked up the postcard, "Well how could she know about—"

Natalie pointed to the symbol on the postcard, "Maybe somebody talked." Misty offered up, it was a possibility but Emily seriously doubted that any of them would ever want to speak about the events that happened out there.

The brunette continued to sift through the information, with Emily still peering over her shoulder, and that's when Natalie pulled out a scanned black-and-white image of an ID. Emily's heart sank, she cleared her throat, looking back towards the bartender, "I think I'll have another."

"You found Travis?" Natalie asked, "Yeah—" Misty awkwardly adjusted her glasses, "Talk about somebody who didn't want to be found."

The bartender set down two shots, "On the house," he nodded, "You look like you need it."

Emily nodded, lifting one of the shots in a mock 'cheers' position, before drinking it, a different server approached from Misty's other side, setting down three glasses, "Here you go ladies, from the gentlemen in the back. Says it's your drink of choice."

The blonde sighed, noticing who it was, she pinched the bridge of her nose, and reached for the next shot, "Misty, you might just have to drive me home."

"Hey," the man approached the bar, "Hi," Natalie responded.

"Wow, it really is you," the man spoke, Emily, unfortunately, knew exactly who he was.

Kevyn Tan.

The man offered a slight nod to Emily, and she begrudgingly returned it.

"Hi," Misty spoke, her tone showing that she clearly just realized who he was, "Hey, I'm um—"

"Kevyn." Misty cut him off, "It's Misty. Misty Quiggly from third-period Spanish," the curly-haired woman explained.

"Misty, right of course." he nodded, "And Emily, how's Aidan?"

That fucking dick. Emily thought to herself, running a hand through her hair. At least he didn't ask about Ash—because he already knew. Kevyn was a cop after all.

"Not really my business anymore. We're divorced." she begrudgingly explained, Emily could feel Natalie's stare once again, but she really didn't feel like getting into that conversation so she didn't look at the other woman.

"Oh, sorry—" Kevyn awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.

Good. He should feel awkward.

"Natalie." He redirected his gaze from Emily to Natalie and caught the brunette's attention. Finally tearing her eyes away from Emily.

"Well, it was nice to see you." Natalie half-shrugged, and the man nodded, "Yeah, yeah you too."

"Sorry, is this uh— is this a bad time?" he asked, "What do you think, Kevyn? Use your logical cop thinking skills."

Emily's voice came out bitter, she was still unhappy with him after the whole huge event of her sister's most recent arrest.

"Right...got it." he said, "Well uh- I don't know how long you're in town for, but just in case, I'll leave this." Kevyn handed Natalie a card, "If you maybe wanna get a drink- about 20 years from now. You know how to reach me."

Emily rolled her eyes, and reached over snaking Natalie's mostly empty beer, and ended up on the receiving end of a glare, "I was drinking that."

"Trust me, I needed it more," Emily muttered.

"Damn, if somebody had told me that's how goth-freak Kevyn Tan would grow up," Misty chuckled, "Didn't you two used to be friends?"

Natalie nodded, reaching for a drink, "Best friends." then Natalie held up the image they had all been looking at before, "So, you sure this is him? Travis?"

Before Misty could answer, Emily stood up from her chair, placing a wad of cash on the bar, "I'm gonna call it a night you two, I think I've had my fair share of reminiscing."

"Don't you need a ride?" Misty asked, and the woman shrugged, "I'll call someone."

Emily wasn't spending a second longer at that bar, she couldn't.

It was too much.

Emily thought she still hated Natalie. She didn't, maybe she never did.

Emily certainly should hate her though, and she knew that.